Without Steve Carell, Dakota Johnson’s ‘The Office’ experience gave off less comedy gold and more awkward team meeting vibes.
From Idris Elba to Jim Carrey to Ricky Gervais, The Office has some iconic celebrity cameos to its name and Dakota Johnson was one of them. A while after Steve Carell had left the show for good, the Madame Web actress was seen in the series finale of The Office when Rainn Wilson’s Dwight was introducing the new employees at Dunder Mifflin.
Unfortunately, despite the very limited screen time for Dakota Johnson, she had an awful time on the show that everybody loves so much. While she was a huge fan of The Office and pretty stoked to be a part of it, her dream proved to be not so wonderful when she actually stepped onto the set. Perhaps things would have been a lot different if Steve Carell had still been there.
Dakota Johnson’s Miserable Experience on The Office
Nine months ago, Dakota Johnson appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers to talk about Madame Web. During the conversation, Meyers, who had also been on The Office brought up her cameo on the show.
Unfortunately, unlike what others would have believed by default, Johnson had a bad time on the set. In fact, she even went as far as to say that it was the “worst time” of her life. Yikes.
So, what happened on set that made the actress walk away from the show with a short cameo and bad memories that will live in her mind forever? Well, the vibes were apparently off.
Unlike the camaraderie we see between the Dunder Mifflin employees on screen, Johnson revealed that it was a different story when the cameras weren’t running.
She stated that the dynamics between some actors were messed up, contributing to a very awkward and weird atmosphere on set. In fact, no one even paid attention to the actress. When Seth Meyers asked, “Wasn’t everybody super sad?” She replied,
They were sad. And they also, like, there were weird dynamics that had been going on for the last 10 years. Some people didn’t speak to each other and I’m coming in like, ‘I’m so excited to be here!’ And no one wanted to talk to me. Nobody gave a f*ck and I was like, in the background of all these scenes, faxing things, I don’t know.
Johnson was the focus of the camera for about 30 seconds and while she thought the job would only take her half a day, she was actually there for two weeks adding to her bad experience.
Coming back to Johnson’s experience with the cast and crew, we can’t help but wonder if Steve Carell would have made her feel much better.
The Office Actors Loved Steve Carell
After Carell left the show, it went downhill. There’s no denying it. Sure, The Office season 8 and 9 and their moments but overall, the vibe just wasn’t what it used to be. Michael Scott was the glue that held everything together and as it turns out, Carell was not that different from his character either.
It is a well-known fact that everyone on the show loved Carell. Take Creed Bratton’s (who played Creed Bratton on the show) words for example. During an interview on Audacy’s AM 560 Sports WQAM, Bratton praised Carell stating,
The guy is a comedic genius, one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. You can ask anybody on the show.
Thus, it goes without saying that if Carell had been on set when Johnson walked in, she would have had a completely different experience than the one she does now. The Crazy, Stupid, Love actor is certainly a ray of sunshine that shines on everyone!
The Office is available to watch on Peacock Premium.
